Staff file, 2016: Hands on the buzzers and pencils at the ready the Timberline High School Science Bowl team practices on Feb. 4, 2016, for a regional competition in Portland, Ore. The school will send a team for the third year to the competition this weekend. Steve BloomStaff photographer

Staff file, 2016: Hands on the buzzers and pencils at the ready the Timberline High School Science Bowl team practices on Feb. 4, 2016, for a regional competition in Portland, Ore. The school will send a team for the third year to the competition this weekend. Steve BloomStaff photographer

Forget football. It’s Science Bowl weekend for these local kids.

Two Thurston County schools are sending teams to the 2017 National Science Bowl regional competition at the University of Portland on Saturday.

The teams are from Timberline High School in Lacey and Jefferson Middle School in Olympia. The event uses a fast-paced question-and-answer format that tests students on their knowledge of biology, chemistry, energy, math and Earth science.

This is the third year Timberline has sent a team to the regional competition. Teams from about 50 high schools and 35 middle schools from Oregon and Washington are participating in the event.

The teams that win the regional middle and high school competitions will win trips to participate in the Science Bowl National Finals, held in Washington, D.C. from April 27 to May 1.

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